PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2015 Lead and Copper Test Results for HBPW
March 1, 2016 – Hannibal, MO – The Hannibal Board of Public Works has received its 2015 lead and copper test results from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Environmental Protection Agency sets the maximum contamination levels for both lead and copper. Ninety percent (90%) of the thirty (30) tests that the HBPW collected need to fall under the maximum contamination levels in order to stay within compliance.
The HBPW’s 2015 90th Percentile Value for lead concentration for all 30 sites was 3.12 parts per billion (ppb), well under the MDNR’s maximum contaminant level (MCL) 15 parts per billion. Likewise, the 90th Percentile Value copper concentration for all 30 sites was 46.5 ppb, with a MDNR maximum contaminant level set at 1,300 ppb. In fact, all 30 samples were below both MCLs. Samples were collected summer 2015, and were directly shipped to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources for testing.
Lead and copper level samples are collected by the Hannibal Board of Public Works every three (3) years to comply with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. However, Bob Stevenson, General Manager, requested monthly lead and copper testing to begin when the Water Treatment Plant switched disinfection systems in October 2015. The HBPW will continue to do the additional testing, which began in December 2015, for a minimum of one year. To date, both December 2015 and January 2016 lead and copper results have been well under the maximum contamination levels.
Samples are collected from homes throughout Hannibal that qualify under the MoDNR Tier 1 qualifications – single family structure with lead service line or lead interior pipes or lead solder that joins copper pipes that were installed after 1982. Since Tier 1 sites are considered a priority within MoDNR, the HBPW collects all thirty samples that fall under this category.
For additional information regarding lead and copper testing, visit our website at www.hannibalbpw.org.
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For a PDF copy of press release, click HERE.
